Customer Replenishment Analyst - Blue Buffalo

Blue Buffalo (BLUE), is one of the strongest and most recognized pet food brands in America, and the undisputed leader in Wholesome Natural pet food, the fastest growing segment of the market. At over four times the size of the next largest brand in this segment, BLUE has become the new mainstream brand that’s delivering products that pet parents are looking for, and connecting with them in a true, authentic way. BLUE thinks of dogs and cats as family members, and believes their food should be natural and healthy. In fact, this was the motivation for the Bishop Family’s decision to create the Blue Buffalo Company. When the beloved Bishop family dog, Blue, faced a variety of health issues, Bill and his two sons, Billy and Chris, set out to create a pet food that was made with only the highest quality natural ingredients—the kind of things a family member deserves. Fifteen years later BLUE has, in many ways, accomplished what the Bishops set out to do—help our dogs and cats live happy, healthy lives. BLUE has a broad portfolio of natural pet foods, enabling pet parents to satisfy their pet’s specific dietary, lifestyle and life-stage needs, offering them no-compromise product solutions. OVERVIEW The Customer Replenishment Analyst for Canada will be accountable for in-depth monitoring, tracking, and reporting of customer inventories, in-stocks levels, purchase order tracking, and create future projections based on current trends and sales velocities. The Analyst will provide key support, reporting, and analytics to the Sales and cross functional team members. The role will also track projects from their infancy through final execution on-shelf at the retailer level. It is critical that the Analyst can manage multiple data sets and create formats efficiently and effectively for easy consumption and understanding often on an ad-hoc basis. This is a vital, customer facing role that is a key enabler of continued growth. This position will also provide insight and be responsible for creating a timely and accurate demand plan by SKU through effective management of all forecasting tools, collaboration with internal and external business partners, analysis of POS sales, shipment records, and sell thru history. The Analyst role is ideal for an entrepreneurial-minded person who is comfortable rolling up their sleeves to influence how pertinent data is captured, presented, and utilized to drive better business decisions. KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES Responsible for the management and execution of multiple ad-hoc project requests in support of Account Managers, Customer Marketing, Supply Chain and Operations teams, as well as customer groups Review and track customer projections compared to internal BLUE forecast and collaborate with the demand team on insights, trends and adjustments Work with multiple areas of the business to accurately deliver weekly, monthly and quarterly reporting and analytics. Will be challenged to deliver insights and recommendations into consistent, actionable formats and responsible for communication of findings to key stakeholders throughout the organization Synthesize large data files in varying formats into concise, specific and accurate reports that provide insight and can be used in multiple steps of the decision making process Develop, maintain and enhance relationships with customers in an effort to continue to provide best in class service that is the industry standard Comfortable creating and leading meetings both internally and externally with the customer Track down and report service-related issues in a concise, consistent manner Work with sales and marketing to accurately reflect business trends in all modeling work MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS Bachelor’s degree in Predictive Analytics, Business Analytics, Accounting, Supply Chain, Finance, or related field of study 4-6 years in a comparative field Advanced Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and Word skills Has significant latitude for unsupervised action or independent decision making Must be able to prioritize multiple tasks/projects while delivering results and meeting deadlines Must be able to work in an environment with free-roaming companion pets PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS 2+ years CPG (consumer packaged goods) experience within the Food, Drug and Mass channel Demonstrated ability to work in a fast-paced environment with excellent organizational skills Excellent presentation, communication and influencing skills (oral and written) to communicate effectively both externally with the customer and internally across many of our cross functional groups Understanding of data modeling and sales forecasting Act as a resourceful, go-to person willing to ‘roll-up their sleeves’ and figure things out Be a team player with a positive and collaborative spirit Proven analytical skills, computer proficiency, and experience with project management Proficiency and/or familiarity with SAP business solutions software and Tableau Knowledge of supply chain planning terms and methods (lead times, safety stock, promotional lifts, days of supply, inventory turns, etc.) Experience with Tableau and/or Business Objects Understanding of supply chain functions Pet Parent General Mills is committed to Employment Equity and encourages applications from all qualified candidates. Accommodations are available upon request for candidates with disabilities taking part in all aspects of the recruitment and selection process.